Nico and Luna
by 2Wolves
Summary: Nico gets in trouble with his father, and as punishment he is sent to Hogwarts. (this summary sucks, but i didn't know what else to say.) written for K. K's bday. hope you all enjoy it! MAJOR FLUFF.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

**This story is tied into my one called Appollo and Daphne slightly, but it still stands alone. This was also written for my friend's birthday, it was based on some drawings she had, that weren't necessarily about this couple. I wish I could show them to you because they were really good, but I can't sorry. L Hope you like the story, and watch out for MAJOR fluff!**

Nico tumbled onto the grass, as he re-entered the world after his recent shadow travel. He growled, as he spit out grass from his mouth. Nico got up and kicked the ground is absolute distance. His travel shadow trip had been bumpy, and it certainly didn't help that he was in a bad mood. Nico did not want to be here, he would rather be anywhere but here, which he told his father, but no! Hades was the king of the underworld, so anything he says goes. Even when Nico tried to fight, father called the harpies to grab him and force him into the shadows.

Nico turned, and found his knapsack that his step mother Persephone had oh-so-graciously packed for him. She had seemed the happiest out of everyone for Nico's unfortunate situation. Nico doubted it, but he still checked the bag for any poisons or evil plants that his step mother might have planted in his bag. He bit down on his teeth in disgust when he opened his bag. No weapons, no ambrosia, not even any drachma for any Iris messages! It was if his father suspected that he would call someone for help- which he probably would have, forget his pride he was desperate! What was worse, underneath a pile of clothes, he found a bunch of textbooks. It was enough to make him throw up. He found a small box with a long stick in it. At his current state it took a great deal of self control not to snap the stick in two. Nico fell back in annoyance. How had this even started? Oh right, he had gotten in trouble with the Olympians, and his father had decided enough was enough. Nico sat down, his back resting against a tree, as he recounted the story.

_"AGAIN NICO?! This has to be at least the seventh time this month! This week!" _

_ Nico winced at his father booming voice, as he echoed through the entire underworld. _

_"No reason to be so loud." Nico mumbled under his breath, since he didn't dare say something like that to his father._

_Nico sat before his father's throne, handcuffed to the chair, which was completely unnecessary, it's not like it would do any good against Nico if he really wanted to escape. The three harpies were behind him, the one Percy had called, Mrs. Dodd's, standing a few feet behind him, with; Nico was sure, a smirk on her face. Persephone stood beside his father, supposedly calming his angry mood. It looked more to Nico that she was enjoying every moment of this. Nico caught her eye, and he saw the slight happy fire in her eyes, as if Nico was getting exactly what he disserved. "_Great_" Nico thought. "_Even the gardener's against me."

_ If Hades heard his earlier remark, he didn't care, it's not like he could get any angrier. He was practically burning. His armrests on his chair was smoking, and singing like his father's hands were acid to it. Nico could see the souls in his father's cloak screaming for escape. _

_ "First it was Dionysus, complaining that you destroyed his best olive orchard, next it was Artemis, complaining that you turned AT LEAST FIVE of her hunters against her!"_

_ "Hey, there I'm innocent!"Nico jumped out of his seat. "They fell in love with me, not the other way around; you can't blame me for that! I didn't even do anything!"_

_ "DO NOT INTERUPT ME BOY!" his father snapped. Nico sank back in his seat. "These are only the beginnings of the comments I've been getting from you boy." Hades snapped his fingers, and one of the harpies flew towards him, carrying a stack of papers. Hades took it from her, and she sat above him upon his throne. Nico quickly noted his way of possible escape. His father ruffled through the stack of papers, which was thicker than he expected. "Last week, you stole the bow and arrows of Eros. Two days later, I receive a message that Apollo's old love Daphne has suddenly been freed, and they're having their wedding in two months!" _

_ "How was that a bad thing?"_

_ "I DISPISE WEDDINGS!" Hades growled. "What could have possibly possessed you to do such a thing anyway?"_

_ Nico shrugged. "It was my sister Hazel's birthday. She heard the story was upset by it, and she wanted a happy ending." _

_ Hades snarled at his son. "You are far to caring to be a son of Hades." Nico said nothing. Nico was personally wondering why Apollo would invite his father to their wedding anyway. Sure Apollo was no Athena, but seriously, inviting the god of death to your wedding? Yeah, that's a great omen. No wonder Daphne hadn't wanted to see Apollo when the first saved her. _

_ Of course it was then that Persephone decided to step in and say something. "The boy is far too disobedient and head strong for his own good." Nico scoffed at that, while she glared at him. She returned her attention to her husband. "If this is how he is now, how will he be in the future? He is just over sixteen, what happen if he gets to headstrong for his own good, and decides to betray you my lord?" _

_ "That won't happen." Nico objected, but he didn't bother trying to defend himself. He could already see that Persephone had won over his father. god's how he hated that woman. _

_ "What do you suggest my queen?" Hades asked. Nico had to keep himself from spitting at the word, "my queen." _

_ Persephone smiled. "Actually I was talking to Hecate not too long ago. She was telling me of that other organization like the two camps. You remember it, don't you Hades? The one in England?" Hades thought for a moment, then his eyes widened as he remembered. _

_ Nico frowned. Another place like the two camps? As far as he knew, there was only camp half-blood and camp Jupiter. Where else was there? "What are you talking about?" Nico asked._

_ Persephone turned to him, a fake smile upon her lips. "It's a place in England. It was first created by Hecate. The structure of the place is more like the roman camp, people not separated by their godly parent. Most if not all of the children there are descendants of half bloods, and there are few actual half bloods. There are few who know of their true lineage, and simply consider themselves magic users."_

_ "Half bloods using magic?" Nico asked. _

_ "Yes, instead of being taught to fight like you, these children are taught to use the arts of Hecate." _

_ Nico was starting to feel uneasy. So far, it didn't sound too bad. Sure, he wasn't the hugest fan of Hecate's abilities, but he didn't hate them. This camp didn't sound too bad, defiantly not what he expected from Persephone. There had to be a catch._

_ "I suggest sending Hades there for about 2 months. The instructors there are quiet efficient, and I'm sure will do well in teaching the boy how to act." _

_ Nico immediately tensed up. 2 MONTHS? No, that was not going to do. Nico never stayed in one place for more than 2 weeks, not 2 Months! "Um, father, for 2 month? Isn't that a bit long? I mean, won't Percy and the others might need my help fighting the giants, and..."_

_ Hades waved off the suggestion. "Your sister Hazel will be efficient enough. I agree with Persephone's plan. Nico di Angelo, you are hereby sentenced to 2 months of confinement in the halls of Hogwarts." Hades smashed down his hand, and an echoing boom, sounded in the room. _

_ Nico took some deep breaths trying to calm himself down. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad? I was still a camp after all. He wasn't good at meeting new people, but he could manage to avoid everyone for most of the time, no one would care if he missed camp story time to go talk to dead skeletons, or ditch school to go on trips with his hellhound that his father had given him for his birthday. _

_ Nico took a deep breath, before he spoke again. "So the camp is in England right? Where in England?"_

_ Persephone looked at him, and smiled, sending shivers down Nico's spine. "Oh I'm sorry, I'm afraid you misunderstand boy. The place we're sending you isn't a camp." _

_Nico frowned. "If it's not a camp what is it?" Persephone's smile grew and Nico wished he hadn't asked. "It's a school boy. You better get your books." _

Nico frowned, as he felt something hit his head, jolting him out of his sleep. He didn't realise that he had fallen asleep, as he forced his eyes open. He growled, as he remembered what he had been thinking about. School, school, SCHOOL!? Seriously, what the heck was his father thinking? Nico had never done well in a camp, let alone school. At his old school, before he knew about being a half-blood, he was sent to detention practically every day. The school before that, before his time skip, he had blown it up when working in the lab, and Nico didn't want to get into how annoying it was to try to read with Dyslexia.

Nico looked up at the school; it looked almost like a haunted castle in the night. Nico could already imagine smoke billowing out of the windows, when he blew something up in their lab. Seriously, why didn't his father just banish him to Tartarus?

Nico looked up to see what had hit him on the head. His eyes widened, as he saw the branches of the trees spinning towards him. He instantly rolled away from the tree in desperation. The trees struck the ground where he had just been sitting. Nico grabbed his bag, searching for his dagger, before he remembered that Persephone had forgotten to pack it. He cursed under his breath, as he dodged the branches.

"Persephone that's enough!" Nico screamed. "You've already sent me here, isn't that torture enough?" apparently not, as the tree took out Nico's feet from under him. Nico fell over with a huff. He looked up, to see the branches hurdling towards him. Suddenly, Nico heard someone say something behind him, and as he opened his eyes, he saw that the tree had quieted down. Nico turned, to see who had saved him. His eyes widened just slightly, before he regained his composer. The girl looked slightly shorter than him, with snow white hair that fell past her waist. She had some silly glasses on, that covered almost half of her face, with what looked like wings on the top. She had her hand held up, pointing at the tree, her other hand holding a brown leather bound book. She wore a long cloak that was lined with blue. She looked at him and smiled.

"I would be careful with the whomping willow. It doesn't like people sleeping under it. It has a particularly bad habit of squashing people."

Nico nodded as he stood up. Nico couldn't help but find her pretty but he swallowed. He was never good with talking to people, on the best of occasions, ask his cousin. Thanking someone wasn't even an option. But he felt in this situation he had no choice. "I, uh, ya. I'll be careful. And Th…" he couldn't bring himself to do it.

"You're welcome!" the girl said with a grin. Nico just nodded, thankful that she had understood. She walked over to him, and held out her hand to him. "I'm Luna Lovegood, but most people call me Looney Luna. You probably will soon enough."

Nico didn't fully understand that, but he took her hand. "Nico." He stated simply. He was never one for interdictions.

"Nico." Luna mussed over the name. "Victorious people."

"Huh?"

"The meaning of Nico." Luna said. Nico just nodded. "Apparently the tree did not agree, unless being defeated counts as being squashed." Once again, Nico just nodded. Luna turned around, and started walking.

"Wait, how do I get to the school?" Nico called after her.

Luna turned. "Don't worry! I'm sure the Nargles will be happy to help. But be careful, they might steal your jacket while there at it." Luna continued to walk off. Nico stood blinking. What on earth was a nargle?

Nico sat uncomfortably in the chair in Mr. Dumbledore's office. The room was huge, covered with books. Nico found the phoenix the most interesting, but apparently it did not agree, as it had tried to bite his hand off when he had tried to pet it.

It had taken Nico a while to find the right place to go, since he didn't run into anyone in the halls, since everyone was in class. Seriously, what kind of school was there where kids weren't ditching class? Finally after he had just about enough, he summoned a ghost to come. The guy had been a big chatter box, Nick nearly-headless was his name. After 15 minutes of trying to get the ghost to answer his questions, he finally directed him to the principal's office.

Mr. Dumbledore was shifting through the administration papers that Persephone had stuffed at the very, VERY bottom of his bag. She had probably been hoping that he would never find him, and the people here would kill him for trespassing. As if they could every catch him.

"Nico Di Angelo, if you keep staring at the Phoenix, I'll have to call our nurse to come deal with the burns." Nico shifted in his chair but, he didn't apologize. "So you're the son of Hades. I have heard about you."

Nico raised an eyebrow. "Really? How?"

Dumbledore raised an envelope. Nico immediately recognized it as Apollo's invitation. "I must say, I'm impressed that there is a woman out there that could get my father to commit to anything."

Nico shrugged. "Trust me; I was just as surprised as you were when they announced the wedding." Then it struck him. "You're Apollo's kid?"

Dumbledore grinned at him. "There is no need to look so surprised. Yes I am the child of Apollo, but I do come from descendants of both Zeus and Athena, and I few other gods, I do believe I have some Hecate blood within me, some roman gods there somewhere as well."

Nico was surprised. Maybe it was just his Greek heritage, but he found it strange that anyone could have the blood of so many different gods. "Persephone told me that there weren't very many direct half bloods here."

"That is true, there are very few, and most that are, do not realise the truth behind their heritage." Dumbledore returned to the papers in his hand. "So coming here is a punishment from your father huh?" Nico nodded. Dumbledore smiled at him. "The gods have some strange methods of punishment don't they. Well you must not fret too much Mr. Di Angelo. This place is not as bad as you would expect."

Nico grumbled under his breath. "I don't do well in schools."

Dumbledore heard his words. "Fret not; this is no ordinary Muggle school you would have gone to."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Nico hadn't been here for more than two hours, and he already knew that he would rather stay in the fields of punishment. Now he was sitting, in front of the entire school, everyone looking at him. While an old lady came toward him with a hat. He felt like he had seen this in a dream somewhere. He should have learned to trust his dreams more.

Dumbledore had tried to speak up for him, and enter him into the school quietly, but some woman, wearing way to much pink that it hurt Nico's eyes; disagreed, saying that would "ruin his Hogwarts experience by giving him special treatment." Nico wondered how long it would take him to suffocate her. Or maybe he could slip some poison into her drink. Dumbledore had already announced him as a transfer student for some special transfer student thing. Nico had zoned out halfway through. Now they were placing the sorting hat on his head.

At first nothing happened. Then the hat moaned itself awake, startling Nico, causing some of the student to giggle. "Aw, well then. Off to work then. AW! It's one of your kind here isn't it? We haven't had one of your kind here in a long time!" Nico wished that the hat would be a bit more discrete. Dumbledore had asked him to keep the whole thing about the Greeks and roman gods a secret, since most of the kids here knew nothing of it. "Hmm, well let's get you sorted, so I can go back to sleep. Hmmm." The hat hummed a bit, and Nico was starting to wonder if he had gone back to sleep before he started talking again. "Hmm, this will be a difficult one won't it? You have suffered a great deal, haven't you boy. I feel more suffering in you than I have in many years." Nico resisted the urge to rip the hat into two. "Hmm, where to place you, were to put you. You could go into almost any of these houses. You're more cunning then most I've seen, and are quiet wise for your age. Yet you have enormous bravery, and the loyalty of a true warrior. Hmm, and yet with your lineage." The hat hummed for a moment. "Slitherin!" the table surrounded with green cheered. Yet at the same time, the people from the other tables all looked at each other with fear. Nico didn't really care; he was used to people looking at him that way. It was refreshing that this time it was for a reason other than his father, even if he didn't understand it.

Nico was about to return to his seat, when one of the teacher raised her hand. It was the annoying one that looked like a dolled up pink poodle. "Excuse me, but I do not believe that he has a magical pet. No child can be allowed into this school without a magical pet." The woman grinned.

Dumbledore looked at Nico, and Nico could see the annoyance for that woman that the head Minister had been trying to hide. Nico was glad he was not alone in his hatred for the woman. "You are right. Mr. Di Angelo, do you have any magical pet?"

Nico frowned for a moment. "I have a dog, will that do?" Nico heard some chuckles from the crowd.

"Could you please bring him forward?" Nico shrugged. What the heck? He whistled a loud clear whistle that echoed throughout the hall. At first nothing happened, then suddenly, all the shadows started gathering in the middle of the room. Nico heard a bunch of girly squeals, and students jumped up on their seats. Then, out the shadow-portal that Nico had created, a large hellhound came out. I say large, but compared to most hellhounds, this one was rather small. It only went up to a bit above Nico's waist line. It had the shape of a Rottweiler, with large sharp teeth. He was actually only a puppy, only a year old. His father had given him to Nico on his 16th birthday, telling him that the dog would teach him discipline. Nico had named him Rex. It would make more sense once he grew to his full size.

Rex ran towards Nico and jumped up on him. Nico was lucky he was strong, or else the dog would have knocked him over. As it was, the dog put his front legs on Nico's shoulders, and licked his face. Nico just scratched him behind his ears and told him down.

"T...th...that dog will simply not do boy!" Nico looked over to the pink woman. He had noticed that she had been the first to jump onto her chair, even though Rex was far from her seat.

Nico frowned at her. "You asked for a magical animal. They don't get more magical then Rex here."

"Absolutely unacceptable." The woman persisted. Rex growled beside him. Nico decided to 'accidentally' let go of Rex's collar he was holding onto. Rex started barking, and ran towards the table. The woman yelped. "CALL HIM OFF! CALL BACK YOUR DOG BOY!" the entire student body howled with laughter at their teacher's discomfort. Nico grinned along with them. After a few minutes of nonstop laughter, the larger teacher; Nico heard someone call him Hagrid; walked around the table to Rex, and held out his hand to him. Rex sniffed it eagerly, and started wagging his tail, as Hagrid pet him.

"Aw this dogs no more dangerous than a mere pup, if you know how to handle him. You can get down from your chair Mrs. Umbridge Ma'am."

Mrs. Umbridge got down from standing on her chair, her face beating red, and she brushed herself off, trying to regain her sense of pride. "Well then, the dog must be at least put on a leash. I will not stand to have that, thing, running around the school. It is an enormous health hazard!"

"Very well Mrs. Umbridge." Nico looked at Mr. Dumbledore, and could have sworn he saw him struggling to hold back a laugh. "May you please keep your dog on a lease Mr. Di Angelo? It would save me a lot of trouble. I'll have one sent to your room tomorrow morning, for now just keep a good hold on him."

Nico nodded, as he whistled. Rex obediently ran over to his master. Nico scratched him behind his ears, as he pulled him by his collar. Rex barked, causing Mrs. Umbridge to squeal again.

Harry and the gang studied the new boy Nico, as he walked over to the farthest seat on the Slitherin table. Hermione was appalled at his complete disrespect for the dress code. Umbridge had tried to force him to wear the robe, but Nico had just made his dog bark and thrown it over his shoulder. Instead he continued to wear his black baggy jeans, (Harry was thankful he wasn't wearing skinny jeans.) and an aviators jacket. Harry thought that was strange. It looked almost brand new, but weren't those things from the Second World War? Even so, it wasn't his clothes that made him stand out to Harry. His skin was white pale, almost matching that of the ghosts in the hall. It brought out the dark shades of his hair, and the dark bags under his eyelids. He looked like someone who had seen too much, and even the smallest thing would send him falling over.

Nico grabbed some sausages, and fed them to his dog, before he started eating himself. "I'm a bit worried Harry." Hermione said beside him. "The hat said he's extremely talented, and he's going to Slitherin? He could be working for you-know-who!"

"Not everyone at Slitherin works for him Hermione!" Ron said, as he stuffed his face with muffins. "Just the ones that hang out with Malfoy."

"I don't think he's a bad guy." Harry added.

Hermione looked at him strangely. "Why do you think that Harry?"

"Yeah!" Ron added. "If he's a Slitherin, almost all of them end up in Alcatraz eventually."

Harry frowned. "Not everyone in Slitherin is evil Ron."

"Most are." Ron mumbled. Harry ignored him, as he watched Nico. He may look kind of weird, and sure he was Silitherin, but Harry couldn't bring himself to believe he was a bad person. The way he played with his dog, in an almost childlike fashion, just didn't seem like the actions of a mean person to him, and defiantly not someone who worked for Voldemort. Harry would never admit it, but he could almost feel some kind of connection with this new kid. They had both suffered far more than any boy their age should ever have to deal with, but they both still came out on top despite it.

"I agree with harry!" the trio jumped, as the turned to see Luna standing behind him.

"Luna!" Hermione said in surprise. "What are you doing here? You know you're not allowed to switch tables at dinner!"

Luna looked at her weirdly, probably wondering how one person could possibly be so obsessed with rules and still have time for friends. "Nico has a dog. That makes him ok."

"So because he has a puppy he's alright?" Ron asked doubtfully. "Honestly I don't think that dog is giving him any good points right now. It's massive! And didn't Hagrid call it a puppy? I don't want to be around when that thing grows to full height!" Ron shuddered, before grabbing another sandwich."

"I wonder if he'll be fast enough to catch a moon frog." Luna wondered thoughtfully.

Harry didn't take heed in her comment. He had known Luna for long enough to know when he shouldn't ask questions. Luna started walking off. "Luna were you going?" harry called.

Luna turned back and smiled. "To welcome him of course. The Slitherin welcome parties are such a bore really." Luna then turned and started skipping in the new boy's direction.

Ron and Hermione looked at her in shock. "What is she doing?" Ron whispered

"She's crazy! Bad enough skipping table, does she was to get caught by Umbridge?" Hermione whispered back.

"It's not like they call her Looney Lovegood for nothing." Ron mumbled. Hermione elbowed him for that. Harry watched after her, then, on impulse, got up and followed her.

"Harry!" Hermione called in astonishment, but Harry kept walking. He wanted to know more about this kid. Hey, maybe if he played his cards right, he would have a new ally against Voldemort!

Nico wished that he knew where his dorm room was exactly. If he did, he would have ditched the meal entirely. He felt over a thousand eyes all staring at him. It's not like he wasn't used to it. Even at places where people had tried to be his friends, he had always gotten weird stares, for some reason or another.

Nico watched as Rex hungrily gobbled through two full turkeys. Nico could help but grin at his dog. He only had Rex for a few months now, but he felt like he had known him forever. Rex had been his constant companion, always there to keep a smile on his face, and to annoy him constantly, especially when he went chasing cars, and actually caught them. He would never admit it, but he thought that might have been his father's intention. The children of Hades were usually loners, and didn't fit into many crowds, so his father instead gave him a dog to keep him company. Nico would never admit that he was grateful towards his father.

"Your dog sure has an appetite." Nico looked up in surprise. There was a young boy standing next to him. He wore the symbol of Gryffindor on his robe, with a matching yellow and red scarf. He had silk black hair, and long bangs, going to the edge of his glasses. Nico couldn't help thinking that if this guy had been born a few decades earlier; he wouldn't be able to go through the halls wearing those glasses.

Behind him stood the girl that had saved him earlier, Luna was her name. She grinned at Nico, before turning to Rex. "Puppy!" she bent over and started scratching him behind the ears.

Nico made a face. Did that girl just call his hellhound a puppy? No one called his dog a puppy. The fact that he was one by age was beside the point. The boy smiled at Nico. "Nice dog you have there. Not a big fan of dogs myself, prefer an owl." The boy raised his hand to Nico. "My names Harry, Harry Potter."

Nico was surprised at the mannerly gesture. Not many people in this time period at their age introduced themselves with a handshake. "_Then again, I am in Britain." _Nico thought. He shook Harry's hand. "Nico di Angelo, but if you forget it, you can just call me 'ghost kid' or whatever comes to mind."

Harry made a face as he released Nico's hand, but didn't comment. "So what brings you to Hogwarts?"

Nico shrugged. He was already becoming uncomfortable. "Let's just say I ticked off my dad one too many times, and he decided sending me away was better than having to deal with me."

Harry nodded. "So does that mean you were homeschooled before coming here?"

"Stop asking him questions Harry." Luna said, still preoccupied with Rex. "You're making him uncomfortable."

Nico frowned. Was it normal for people to get easily uncomfortable? He thought that was his own special gift. "No its ok I don't mind." Nico said.

"He's just lying to you to be polite harry don't believe him." Luna said, still scratching Rex behind the ears.

Nico frowned. It was bad enough that he was uncomfortable, but this Luna girl wasn't making it any better. Just then Rex moved out of Luna's reach and walked over to Nico, and started licking his hand, and whimpering at him. Nico frowned, looking at Rex. That wasn't normal, was there something about the girl scarring Rex.

"Hey Potter, why don't you and Looney here get away from our house member?" Nico turned towards the voice, and was immediately convinced that it was this guys over use of hair jell that was scaring Rex. He had snow white hair that was slicked back on his scalp. He wore this obnoxious grin on his face that really bugged Nico. He kind of reminded Nico of Octavian from Camp Jupiter.

"He hasn't been here for ten minutes and you're already poisoning his mind with your crazy ideas Looney Luna? At least give him time to prepare himself from your insanity." Luna ignored him.

"Draco leave her alone!" Harry said, standing abruptly in his seat. "We were just talking. You don't need to act like everyone in Slytherin is automatically your property."

"Shut up Potter!" Draco spat the name like it was poison. "And speaking of which, why are you here? What, are you looking for another reason to get in trouble with Mrs. Umbridge?"

Nico sat there and watched the bickering. These two had a history that was obvious, especially by the way no one even bothered with a second glance at the boring argument. He looked at Luna, though she didn't seem bothered by their argument or the insults that Draco had said to her earlier. She just sat there, her eyes drifting around the room, as if the argument was not even worth her attention.

Soon, Draco turned his attention to Luna. "And what are you still doing here? What did the moon frogs steal one of your shoes again?" he laughed.

"Or did one of your nargles steal your wand?" one of the other boys from Slytherin added in.

Harry tried to get them to shut up, but they kept laughing and poking fun at Luna. Nico looked at Luna. She was keeping a straight face, but Nico knew that look. It was just like him, when he was trying to mask some kind of pain. Nico felt his fist clench. He didn't know why, but for some reason it angered him to see that look on Luna's face. He immediately stood up, surprising the others.

Draco grinned, but it was easy to see that Nico scarred him. "Hey big guy, you gonna get your dog to chase this guy off or..."

Before he could continue, Nico grabbed him at his collar and lifted him to his feet. He and his friends all yelped in surprise. "Why don't you and your friends go back to stuffing your faces with Turkish food or whatever you British people eat before I make you wish that you had never been born."

The boy laughed stutteringly, like he was still trying to regain his sense of pride. "Oh and what gives you the right to talk to me like that?"

Nico mentally gave him points for standing up to him. Nico just looked at Rex, and whistled. Putting down Draco, Rex then immediately barked up at him, and snarled, managing to look threatening. "Because I'm the one with the hunting dog. And he's hunted bigger animals that you." The three boys turned and ran out of the hall. Nico smirked, as he, Harry and Luna laugh.

"Man I like you already!" Nico turned to see harry, a large grin on his face. "If you can make Draco go running out on your first day, you are going to make lots of friends here."

Any normal kid would find that as a complement. Not Nico. To Nico, friends equalled talking, talking equalled socializing, socializing equalled bad, and by bad he meant trapped between a gorgon and a fire breathing dragon bad. Nico swallowed hard. "Um thanks."

Just then Nico was so surprised he almost sent himself into the shadows. The girl Luna jumped up and hugged him happily. Nico immediately tensed up like a stone. The girl didn't seem to notice, and just continued to hug him. Soon she let go, and smile at him. "Thank you for that."

Nico couldn't speak, his mouth hanging open slightly. "I...Uh... sure." Luna smiled at him. Just then Rex barked and started chasing his tail. Nico sighed. "I better take him outside. If I'm going to have to keep him quiet in the dorm I'll have to bring him out for a while."

"Oh oh I'm coming to!" Luna said, not even asking for permission. She easily grabbed Rex's collar and gently lead him outside.

"Well I got to go." Harry said. "My friends are gonna want me back soon." Harry turned to return to his table. "Hey, welcome to Hogwarts! I know your gonna enjoy it here." Nico nodded as he walked away, and turned to follow Luna. The two of them walked beside each other outside, watching as Rex ran around.

"So what do you think of Hogwarts?" Luna asked. She swung her arms as she walked, showing how relaxed she felt, surprising Nico

"It's nice. Where are the weapons?"

"We don't have weapons here. We only use our magic."

"Oh." Nico said, gulping. This wasn't going to be fun.

"It's a lot different from camp Half-blood huh?" Luna said with a smile.

"Yeah I..." it took him a moment to process what he said. "wait, what?"

Luna smiled at him. "Dumbledore did tell you that there were some demigods here. Not many though, I'm pretty sure I'm the only direct demigod. I went to camp half-blood when I was young before I came here." Nico nodded. He was surprised he had met a demigod so fast, especially since there weren't supposed to be very many demigods here. "You're a son of Hades right?" again Nico was surprised

"Is it that obvious?" Nico asked.

"It wasn't that hard to figure out. You definitely look the part." Luna said. "Oh look!" Luna ran ahead to play with Rex.

_"So she's ADHD" _Nico thought, watching her. He couldn't help complementing the way her white hair seemed the cut through the dark of night.

Nico watched the two of them play, before he decided to head in. He called to Luna to ask if she wanted to come in. She nodded, and lead in Rex.

Luna pointed Nico towards his room, before saying goodbye. Nico found all his stuff packed into a corner, next to a bed. No one bothered him, afraid he would break their arms or something. That was just fine with Nico. He collapsed on his bed, Rex making himself comfortable at the foot of the bed. Nico fell asleep, though behind his eyes, he could still see Luna's hair against the dark sky, lighting up the fields like a moon.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Nico was fitting into the school a lot easier than he expected. Luna was a big help, and hung out with him practically all the time. At first it was slightly uncomfortable, to be hanging out with someone who wasn't dead for so long, but Luna soon started to grow on him. Harry was a cool guy too; he helped him a lot learning how to work a broom stick. His two friends Hermione and Ron had been hesitant of him at first but started to warm up to him after a while. He wasn't trying to be mean, but he kind of liked it better when they didn't. Ron stole his food all the time and would pelt him with questions 24/7, which annoyed the heck out of Nico. During one of his lessons, Nico made the fatal mistake of asking her to help him catch up on his lessons. Now every night she would give her at least three thick books of homework to finish by the next day, and would pester him constantly about if he finished this essay and that project. As if the headache all the dyslexia was giving him wasn't bad enough. But still, Nico didn't hang out with them very often, really only at meals and in class. Even though he was with Luna a lot, whenever she was buys he would talk to the ghosts of the castle. He used them to find out what was happening outside the confines of the castle. Nothing was happening with the giants as of late, but that didn't stop Nico from worrying.

Even so, Nico was catching on to his studies pretty easily. Once he had gotten the hang of it, it was like shadow travel, easy, but very tiring. He had to stop after only five spells. Luna helped him out a bit, but usually when the hung out they were playing with Rex. Luna really like Rex, and would often take care of him when Nico was getting mauled by Hermione.

Today was no different. Nico had been at Hogwarts for about a month, Nico was going outside to meet Luna, after Harry had helped him figure out a defence against the dark arts spell. Luna was playing fetch with Rex; the other students were still just getting gout of classes. Nico was walking towards her, both hands stuffed in the pockets of his aviator jacket, when he heard a rustling from the bushes. He stopped for a moment, and looked over the bushes. Silently, he walked around the bush, and saw a boy, kneeling behind it, watching Luna through the bushes.

"Hey." Nico called. The boy jumped in surprise. Nico actually recognized him, he hung out with harry and his friends some times. Nico made a face at him. "What are you doing?"

"Nico!" the boy yelped "I err, I was um."

"Where you just..."

"I wasn't stalking Luna!" Neville blurted out.

There was a bit of an awkward pause. "I, I didn`t say you were." Nico said slowly. There was another awkward pause.

"What's going on?" Luna asked. They both jumped, and turned. How she had snuck up on them Nico didn`t know, or how she did it with Rex. Rex jumped up happily seeing his master, putting his front paws on his shoulders and licking his face.

"Aw yuck, Rex down boy down!" Nico said, trying to calm down Rex.

Neville's face was beat red, dripping with sweat. "I, err, Luna! I um, I was just, I mean, we were." Neville stuttered on and Nico couldn`t help but laugh.

"You were just looking for dabberblimps." Both of them starred at her. "They do like playing in the bushes, but I find it's easier to find them at the river." Luna turned and pointed at the river a little ways away from them.

Nico could see the relief on Neville`s face. "Err ya yes that's what I was doing! Thank you Luna!" Neville practically sprinted away.

Nico frowned. "You're gonna let him get away?"

Luna looked at him confused. "Get away what do you mean?"

"He was staring at you! Don`t you want to get him back?"

"I don`t see why I should get back at him for that? Why did he make you angry?"

Nico clenched his fist. He couldn`t explain it but for some reason after seeing Neville watch after Luna, he wanted to hunt him down and punch him in the face. Nico took a deep breath to calm his nerves. "No. Nothing I`m fine."

Luna looked at him for a moment. "Then why are you angry?"

"I`m not." Before she could ask again she interrupted. "Let's get going, people are getting out of class. Let's grab some lunch before everyone else gets out." Nico turned, and stalked off towards the buildings, followed in heel by Rex. Luna blinked, but then jogged to catch up, then skipped along easily by his side. Nico`s hand stayed clenched, and he was afraid to open it. Suddenly, he felt Luna`s small hand encase his own. Nico looked at her in surprise, but she offered no explanation, and just starred on as she skipped. Nico felt his hand relax, and slipped his hand out of her grasp.

"Thanks." He mumbled, looking away, feeling his face turn red. Luna smiled, and skipped ahead. Nico watched after her, trying to figure out why his heart was beating so fast. Rex looked up at his master, and barked, almost in confusion. Nico smirked at his dog, and scratched him behind his ears, before he followed Luna.

Nico and Luna walked in late, most everyone else was already there. They both left to go sit at their own tables. Needless to say, the slight red blush on Nico`s face did not go unnoticed by our favourite brunette.

"Look at that Harry!" Hermione said, pointing at Nico.

Harry looked up from his soup. "Hmm? What Nico? What about him?"

"Is he blushing?" Hermione asked.

Ron snorted. "Ghost boy? Blushing? I highly doubt it."

Harry frowned. "I think that he is." Hermione gave Ron an `I told you so` look. Ron stuck his tongue out at her. "Any idea why?" Harry asked.

"Isn`t it obvious?" Hermione asked. The two boys gave her blank stares, and she sighed in exasperation. "You two are so hopeless. It's because of Luna! It's obvious he likes her!"

Ron spit out a big of his noodles, receiving a well deserved glare from one of the other girls. "Ghost boy likes Looney girl? Sorry I don`t see it."

Hermione glared at him for his nicknames. "Its obviously there. She follows him around everywhere, and she`s the only one that Nico puts up with outside of class." the two still looked at her. She sighed again. "You boys are hopeless. It's a wonder if either of you ever get a date." Ron recoiled at her.

After lunch, Nico went to his gardening class. This was probably his least favourite class, curtsey of his step mother probably. Nico sat down next to Hermione, seeing as there were no other seats. Luna was with the other Raven tails, who were preparing for some special dance that their house was putting on in a few weeks. Nico frowned, seeing Neville sitting in a seat at the back. Nico had decided to label his anger down to the fact that he really didn`t like the boys shoes.

"Hey Nico!" Nico looked in surprise, and almost jolted out of his seat when he saw how close Hermione was, starring up at him.

"I, uh, hi." Nico said, feeling extremely uncomfortable. "what`s going on?"

"Soo, did you hear about the Raven tail dance?" Hermione said slowly. The teacher was talking now, but she was so focused on the plants she had at the front she didn`t notice the students talking.

"Um. Yes?" Nico said slowly.

"sooo. Are you going to ask someone?" she asked, scooting closer to him.

"I don`t dance." Nico said.

"What!" Hermione cried exasperated. They received some stares, but they all quickly looked back. Nico was thankful that the teacher was wearing her earmuffs. "But you have to ask her! It would be so cute, and it would be a lot of fun and if you don`t..." Hermione went on and on. Nico just sat frozen in his seat, trying to figure out what he had done wrong. All he was hearing was blah blah blah you did this wrong blah blah blah but you half to blah blah.

"Um. Sorry?" Nico said hesitantly.

Hermione looked at him with a glare, and Nico wished he hadn`t said anything. "Didn`t you listen to a word I said?"

"Was I supposed to?" Nico blurted out. Hermione immediately glared at him, and was about to say something when the teacher spoke out.

"Hermione granger and Nico Di Angelo if you two don`t mind I would like to continue my class."

Hermione turned to the teacher. "Our apologies Ma`am. It won`t happen again." The teacher nodded and turned back to the board. "Meet me after class." Hermione whispered to Nico. Nico looked at the board. He knew he should have stayed in bed this morning.

After his agonizingly painful class Nico waited back in the class till everyone had left. He was hoping Hermione's always on time record would cause her to forget, but just his luck, after everyone had left she stuck her head back in.

"If you don`t hurry up I'll put an orchideous spell in your hair, and you`ll go walking out of the school with dandelions." Nico groaned. Not wanting to risk being called pansy head for the rest of his life he got up and followed her. He found her outside the classroom tapping her foot impatiently.

"Alright I`m here. So what the heck was that all about?" Nico asked impatiently, checking his watch impatiently.

"What do you mean you don`t dance?" Hermione said, after glancing around to make sure no one was there.

Nico blinked. "In case you haven't noticed, I`m not exactly social."

"Except with those ghosts that follow you everywhere." Hermione noted.

Nico ignored that. "So being in a big room with most everyone in the school acting like maniacs to a rhythm is not exactly my idea of fun. I tend to steer clear of school dances."

"But you can`t!" Hermione jumped. "You have to ask her to go with you so you two can finally start going out, and then you can be the perfect couple!"

Nico starred at her as if she had just fallen from Apollo`s chariot. "What the heck are you talking about?"

Hermione sighed. "Must I explain everything to you?" Nico nodded. She sighed in annoyance. "I'm talking about Luna! You have to ask her to the dance!"

"Oh thank goodness, I was scared you wanted me to ask you to the dance!"

"What? No! You`d be lucky if I ever said yes to someone as messy as you!"

"Or just someone who isn`t Ron Weasly."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

Nico decided to drop it fast. "Never mind. Besides what do you mean Luna and me? There's nothing between us!"

Hermione raised an eyebrow at him. "Oh really? Then why were you blushing at her earlier?"

Nico winced. "I wasn't blushing!"

Hermione made an MmmmHmmm? Sound. "Nico how stupid do you think I am." Nico decided it would be wise not to answer that question. "Think about it. You`re smart for a guy. Who in this school do you put up with more than Luna? I have never seen you able to stay in the same room with someone for more than an hour at most, while you hang out with Luna practically all the time!" Nico didn't comment. "Oh come on, would you just admit it? I see how you look at her."

Nico clenched his teeth, "is it that obvious?" he growled.

Hermione grinned, as if she had just won. "No. Most people in this school are far too slow to see it." Nico frowned. "Also, if you don't mind me saying, I've never seen Luna as happy with someone as I've seen her with you." Nico felt the corner of his mouth involuntarily lift in a smile, but it vanished as quickly as it came. "So?" Hermione pestered. "Are you going to ask her to the dance?"

Nico paled. "That doesn't change. I'm not good at dances. You said it yourself; I'm not good with people."

"Oh come one!" Hermione moaned. "It's not like she'll say no to you!"

"Doesn't change the fact. I'm not going." Nico turned and started walking away.

"If you don't ask her soon someone else will!" she called after him. Once again, Nico ignored her and walked on. Nico would never tell anyone, but it had nothing to do with the fact of a big crowd that made Nico shrink at the idea of going to the dance.

Nico's day after that was exhausting. Another day of just figuring out how to read all the spells and potion with his Dyslexia, and receiving five new essays that he would have to finish by the end of the week. He sighed. Why had his father sent him here? Wasn't 1 month enough?

Nico looked up, and saw Luna skipping towards him, from the other end of the hall. Nico waved at her, and she happily waved back. He started walking in her direction, when someone burst forth from the hallway next to Luna. Nico stopped in his tracks, as he saw Neville go up to Luna. She stopped and turned to him, and they talked for a moment. Nico stopped in his tracks, his fist clenched, but not wanting to get in on the conversation. After they were finished, Neville turned and walked past Nico, with a large grin on his face. Nico walked over to Luna, who didn't look to happy, her bottom lip coming out in a pout.

"Hey what's up?" Nico asked. "What did Neville want?"

Luna sighed. "Nothing. He was just asking me to the dance."

"What!" Nic said shocked. He never actually expected Neville to have the guts to ask Luna. "What did you say?"

Luna looked at him puzzled. "I said yes. Isn't that what you're supposed to do when someone asks you?"

It was three days later on the night of the ball; Nico was outside in his regular clothes, playing with Rex in the fields. He wanted to shadow travel back to camp, but every time he tried, his father intercepted his travel and sent him right back to where he started. Nico hadn't spoken to Luna after he found out she was going with Neville. He had consciously avoided her all over the school. He was sure she was confused with his actions, but he really didn't care right now. He didn't want her to see him in this state. He couldn't explain his rage, but it was there. A few times he had been tempted to shadow travel Neville to the underworld, or just send him there the old fashion way.

All week he had gotten pestered by Hermione, after a while he decided to avoid absolutely everyone till the dance was over. Not even the ghosts dared to come near him right now. He heard the music for the dance going on, and huffed in annoyance. It wasn't a lie when he said that he didn't like dances. He never had, they were far too noisy for his taste. He probably wouldn't have asked Luna even if Neville hadn't.

"Then why am I so angry?" Nico mumbled to himself.

"Excuse m young man!" Nico looked up, to see Mrs. Umbridge standing over him. She was wearing the stupidest puffy pink dress he had ever seen. It made her look like a cupcake, with way to much frosting. "All wizards in this school must attend the dance!"

"Who made up such a stupid rule?"

Mrs. Umbridge's face turned red, and Nico assumed that it had been her. "Young men should know better than to talk back to a teacher! The youth these days are so disrespectful!"

"_I'm older than you are." _Nico thought, but didn't say anything.

"If you do not attend, you will receive detention!"

Was that supposed to be a threat? From her face, Nico thought it was. Nico would have loved to see Mrs. Umbridge in an actual battle. He could picture her yelping around like a chiwawa, as a chimera chased her. But Nico thought of how his father would kill him if he got in too much trouble here. He sighed, as he stood up. "Fine, lead the way."

Mrs. Umbridge looked at him in shock. "You're going dressed like that?"

Nico looked down at his clothes. He wasn't wearing his aviator jacked, having left it in his dorm. He wore a black t-shirt with a flaming skull on it. He wore black track pants with white lines going down the sides. "What wrong with it?" Nico asked, honestly not knowing.

Mrs. Umbridge stood in shock; as if not able to comprehend that a boy could be lacking such fashion sense. "Whatever just follow me."

Nico walked into the dance, Mrs. Umbridge leaving to start scolding some other poor soul. Nico looked around the room. He knew how underdressed he was, but he didn't really care. He saw Ron dancing with Hermione, who looked like she was trying hard not to smile. Harry was sitting to the side, talking to the other ginger, Ginny, Nico thought her name was. He looked around the room, not wanting to see who he was looking for. Unfortunately, he found her, and his mouth dropped in a slight o. She was wearing a long blue dress, with a silver chain tying it around her waist, the symbol of her house on the front. It had one this strap wrapping around her right shoulder. Her hair was flowing down her back, in light curls, sparkles adorning her hair, and a silver rose tucking in the top of her hair nicely. Nico couldn't take his eyes off her, her dress spinning around her. But then Nico's daydreaming was crushed, when he saw she was dancing with Neville. The boy looked like he was sweating, his hair sticking slightly to his forehead. He was also a horrible dancer, which pissed of Nico. He stumbled a lot, and stepped on Luna's feet a lot. Nico clenched his fist. Promptly, he walked towards the couple, earning his a bunch of surprised looks from others. Neville looked up surprised when Nico walked up to the two.

"Excuse me," he said, but it was close to a growl. "May I interrupt?" Neville looked surprised at his mannerly actions. Nico cursed himself for it, but it was too much of a habit.

Even so, his tone made it clear to Neville that he was not asking. "Y...yes of course!" Neville said, embarrassed. He let go of Luna, and immediately skittered away like a rat.

Nico huffed, thinking that any real man would defend his right to dance with a girl. Suddenly Nico got worried, wondering if Luna would be mad at him for scaring off her date. Nico looked at her, and was surprised, at the wide smile adorning her face.

"I didn't expect you to come Nico!" she said smiling. "You haven't talked to me in days! I've missed you!"

Nico immediately felt guilty for leaving her for those days. "Sorry." Nico took her hand, then wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her close. "Hopefully I can make it up to you with this dance." Just then an old slow song came on, something that Nico would have heard during his time. The two started dancing, Nico easily talking the lead. Nico was an amazing dancer, of the likes not many people in Hogwarts had seen in years. His dancing was old-fashioned, extremely, but he was so good at it, the two of them looked like something out of a children's fairytale. Most if not all couples stopped to watch the two dance, as Nico spun Luna around the room. Nico's face went a bit red, knowing how stupid he must look, dancing like this, and wearing such sloppy clothes. But he looked at Luna, as she laughed in enjoyment, and his worries vanished.

"I'm surprised Nic, you're a really good dancer!" Luna said smiling at him.

Nico grinned. "You're not so bad yourself." He twirled her around

"Where did you learn how to dance?" Luna asked, as she turned again to face him.

Nico blushed slightly. "Actually, this is one of the reasons I wasn't going to come." Nico cursed himself, wondering why on earth he had said that.

"Oh?" Luna said, immediately curious. "Why would being a good dancer make you not want to dance?"

Nico's face turned red, looking away. He saw Hermione and Ron watching them, Hermione looked close to tears. Stupid girl. "My parents were... old fashioned." Nico started slowly. "They both danced a lot. My sister wanted to learn how, so my mother always made me dance with her so she would have a partner."

Luna giggled, at him, causing his face to burn even more. "That's a cute story." Nico looked at her, feeling a bit better seeing she wasn't going to make fun of him. "I'm glad you decided to come, it was getting really boring."

Nico looked surprised. "But I thought you were enjoying yourself, dancing with..." Nico couldn't bring himself to say his name without spitting.

"Neville?" Luna asked. "He's sweet, and I didn't want to hurt him. But I don't like liars."

Nico frowned, "what did he lie about?"

Luna grinned. "My my, Nico! Don't you know? Neville said he was looking for dabberblimps, but everyone knows that dabberblimps hate bushes, and they cannot stand being near water!"

Nico grinned, remembering the conversation. "I can't say I knew that."

"Oh yeah!" Luna said, her face shinning, Nico knowing how much she loved talking about her creatures. "dabberblimps and water Nymphs have a terrible relationship, so they refuse to go anywhere near water."

Nico laughed, "You're crazy, you know that?" Nico said, not trying to be mean.

Luna grinned. "Of course I am! The world is so much more fun like that!" The two hadn't noticed, but the music had come to a stop. They stopped, dancing, people around the clapping. Nico winced at the attention, his face going red again. Luna squeezed his hand. "Don't worry; sometimes a little attention is good for a person, especially when they have a friend with them." Nico glanced at her smiling face. Suddenly, without warning, Luna went up on her tiptoes, and kissed Nico on the cheek. More cheers filled the room. Nico looked at her for an explanation, but she gave none, just continuing smiling at him. "You know, your face has been going red a lot recently, maybe you should get that checked."

Just them Mrs. Umbridge clapped her hands, demanding everyone's attention. "Well then, its 11 o'clock, everyone must return to their rooms now, there are classes in the morning." Everyone groaned openly, but obediently started returning to their rooms.

Luna smiled at Nico again, before letting go of his hand, and following her house mates. "See you tomorrow Nico!" she called back.

Nico stood there stunned for a moment. He felt a thud on his back, and looked to see the golden trio standing behind him. "Way to go man!" Ron said, thudding his back again. Nico would have slaughtered him on any other day, but right now he was in a good mood.

Hermione smiled at him. "Don't worry! I won't say I told you so!"

"Geez man, where did you learn to dance like that?" Harry asked.

Nico frowned. "Nowhere, I just knew." Before the group could pester him any further, he left, returning to his room.

He found Rex sleeping at the end of his bed like usually. Nico walked over to him, and scratched him behind the ear. Rex looked up at him, with a confused look. Nico could swear he was asking, _did master bring me meat? _Nico laughed. Nico's good mood seemed to confuse his dog even more. Nico just scratched him behind the ear, and plopped on his bed again.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4.

A few days later, all the kids from the school were let out for a week for their March break. Most of the students were going back home to their families, though some, i.e. Hermione, were staying at the school for extra classes. Nico wanted to just leave the school and go wander around for a bit, but he didn't want to risk his father's wrath by disobeying his orders. He borrowed a drachma from Dumbledore to contact his father via Irish message. He was not looking forward to this conversation.

Nico found a secluded spot near the river, to use his Irish message. He was tempted to call Percy, or Hazel, but he decided against it. He threw the drachma in the rainbow and called for his father. After a few seconds, an image of his father appeared before him, sitting on his throne. Nico was thankful he didn't see Persephone anywhere that would help his case.

"Nico, my son." Hades acknowledged him.

Nico half nodded, half bowed to his father. "Hades."

"For what reason are you calling me Nico, I don't have the time to talk about your magic card game."

"Father I haven't cared about those cards in years, your still thinking of the younger me." Nico said.

Hades waved off the comment. "What do you want boy?"

"Hogwarts has a week off right now. I was wondering what you wanted me to do."

Hades eyes light up as he remembered. "Right, your punishment. How has your time been at Hecate's school?"

Nico made a face at his father. "Take a guess."

Hades laughed, as Nico shuddered. Nico had a feeling that his father was trying to be the good dad, though he couldn't quite understand why; but he would never get used to that laugh. "It seems that Persephone does have some good ideas! What were you saying again?"

"We have a week off of school. Do you want me to stay here, or can I go?"

Hades frowned, and put his hand in his chin, as he considered. Nico thought the entire time. _"Please, please please just let me have the week off, please by too busy to care."_

Hades shook his head, and Nico almost fell over in disappointment. "No, boy you're going to go to camp for the week. Camp half-blood preferably."

Nico clenched his teeth. Sure, he liked Camp Half-blood. Percy, Annabeth, and most of the other campers were nice enough to him, but there he was looked down on, more than he was here. Everyone knew who his father was, and he was judged more harshly because of it. But Nico knew better then to talk back to his father. "Yes sir." Nico agreed, barely able to get the words past his clenched jaw.

Hades frowned at his son. "Don't forget you are still under punishment, I am only allowing you this week out of the kindness of my heart. Be more grateful to your father."

Nico didn`t say anything for fear of his regular colourful language. Nico just simply nodded. Hades swept a hand through the water, dispersing the connection. Nico`s hand trembled in its fist. He turned and kicked a nearby stone. He cracked down the middle splitting in two. Nico walked back in the direction of the school in a huff. He would probably have to shadow travel to camp, so he went back gather his things.

As he threw his bag over his shoulder, he heard a knock at his door, and Rex started barking happily beside him. Nico turned to see Luna standing there, Rex running up to her, and licking her hands. "You finished packing Nico?"

Nico frowned at her comment. "Yeah, why?"

"Then we better get going! Chiron won`t hold capture the flag back forever!"

Nico raised an eyebrow. "You're coming to camp? I thought you would go see your dad!"

Luna shook her head. "I stay with Papa over the summer; he only lets me go to camp once a year now for March break. Now hurry up, we`ll miss the train!" she turned to run outside, but immediately tripped, falling face flat, with an oof. Nico couldn`t help but laugh at her misfortune. She looked up and pouted at him.

He walked over to her and helped her up. "Don`t worry, I'll bring us there, it`ll be a lot easier than going on the train. _For her maybe, I'll probably collapse when I get there." _Nico thought, wincing at the thought.

Luna looked up at him, frowning. "How? Are we going to get Thestral to fly us?"

Nico hadn`t heard anything about those, but decided to ask her later. "Do you have your bags?" Luna raised the knapsack strapped over her back. "That's all?" Nico asked.

"You have less than I do." She said, pointing at his bag. Nico frowned down at it, realising she was right.

"Alright then, take my hand." He held out his hand to her, which she took. He whistled to Rex, who looked up at him expectantly. "Follow me boy." Nico looked over to Luna. "You should probably close your eyes. And hold on tight." Luna opened her mouth to ask why, but immediately, Nico ran into the shadows, followed close behind by Rex, as the shadows engulfed them.

He heard Luna yelp, and she grasped onto Nico more tightly, which surprised him. She pressed her face into his shoulder, blocking out the shadows surrounding her. Nico put an arm around her protectively, almost carrying her now. The trip took longer than usual, exhausting Nico, but finally, he found himself at the front porch of Camp half-blood. Nico immediately let go of Luna and leaned on the railing to hold himself up, breathing heavily.

"How did you do that?" Luna asked. Nico looked up at her, expecting her to look terrified, but she actually looked kind of excited, with her regular curiosity there.

"Shadow travel. It's a gift, of the children of Hades. And I say gift very loosely. It's extremely taxing on my strength."

Luna nodded, in understanding. She looked in her bag, and pulled, out a reusable water bottle. "Here, consider it a thank you for the trip."

Nico took it gratefully, and gulped it down sloppily, some drops falling down his shirt. After he had downed the drink he turned to her. "thanks." He said, returning the bottle, which she took and shoved in her bag.

"Hey Nico!" Nico looked over to see his cousin Percy and Annabeth walking over to him. "Hey man good to see you! Where have you been? I've been trying to call you for weeks!"

Nico gave him a small grin, before slapping his hand. "Let's just say I got in some trouble with my dad." Nico said.

Percy nodded, then turning to Luna. "Who's she?" Percy asked.

Annabeth sighed beside him. "forgive Percy`s rudeness Luna, he doesn't mean it, he`s just incredibly naive."

Luna nodded. "I can see that."

"Hey!" Percy protested. Annabeth she slapped him lightly on the head. Percy put a hand to where Annabeth had hit him. "How do you two know each other?"

"Luna comes here around this time every year. Since you usually aren`t here at this time of year I'd understand why you haven't seen her around." Annabeth explained, before turning back to the two. "Good to see you both. We`re having dinner in the pavilion in a few minutes. Want to head to your cabins before meeting us there?"

Nico nodded, the mention of food after his long travel making his stomach growl. Rex barked behind him, as if he sensed the possibility of bacon. Annabeth gave Rex a worried look, but Nico quickly settled her fears. "Don`t worry about him. I`ll keep him in the cabin so he doesn't scare any of the campers." Annabeth nodded in thanks.

Luna turned and started walking towards the cabins. "I`ll see you at dinner Nico." She called back to him, as she skipped along, humming to some song Nico didn`t recognize. Nico nodded and waved after her.

Percy looked at Nico and gave him a meaningful smirk, one of his eyebrows rising. "What?" Nico grumbled at him. Percy didn`t say anything. "Seriously what?" Nico asked again, getting annoyed.

Percy just laughed at his cousin. "Nothing, just weird to see you growing up." Percy uncharacteristically ruffled Nico`s hair, before walking off with Annabeth, who waved goodbye at him. Nico frowned in confusion at his cousins' actions, but he just shrugged it off, and whistled at Rex to follow him.

Nico walked over to cabin thirteen, which was connected to the Dionysus cabin. Polute wasn`t there right now, probably snuck out of camp to go drinking. The two cabins were separated by a large wall, so even if he had been there they wouldn`t have really talked to one another. Nico plopped his bag on his bed. Rex trotted happily into the cabin, and lay down on the rug in the middle of the cabin. Nico smiled at him, and was about to go to sleep, when he heard the bell for dinner. Nico groaned, wishing he could sleep, but the smell of food driving him out of his bed. He got up slowly, and started walking towards the door, when he thought of Rex. He turned towards his dog, who was standing beside him, he tongue hanging. Nic knew he couldn`t bring Rex to the pavilion, or risk most of the campers screaming in fright, the others casing down Rex with spears and pitchforks. Nico grabbed a chain and tied Rex to the side of his bed. Rex stayed obediently, but when Nico rose to leave, Rex whimpered.

Nico turned to look at Rex, who was giving him a puppy dog face. "Don`t look at me like that. You know I would bring you if I could." Rex still looked at him, his lip pouting. "I'll bring you back some bacon and sausages, I promise." With that, Nico closed the cabin door behind him, leaving Rex in the shadows.

Nico sat alone at his table in the pavilion. He received a weird look every now and then, but not nearly as much as before the battle with Kronos. Some of the campers said hi to him, Will Solace, the consoler of the Apollo cabin, welcomed him back. Clarisse from Ares cabin threatened to stuff his face into the fire, which was about as friendly as she ever got. Nico looked down at his plate. He had a slice of lasagne with Caesar salad and some garlic bread with cheese on the side. It was about as Italian as it got, Nico smiling, remembering his mothers home-made lasagne. This wasn`t nearly as good, but it wasn`t anything to complain about either. Nico looked at his cook, and muttered.

"Root beer." The cup magically filled with the liquid. Nico took a sip, and smiled, remembering how old veterans of the First World War would give him this and try to convince him that it was real beer to make him feel manly.

"Looks good." Nico looked up in surprise to see Luna standing above him. It felt weird to see her out of her regular Hogwarts uniform, and Nico almost didn't recognize her. She wore a sleeveless jean jacket over top of a gray tank top. She wore blue jeans a slightly lighter shade then her jacket, and a grey beret. She was holding her dinner plate in her hands, some pork with mash potatoes and gravy. Luna put down her plate on the table and sat down across from Nico. "Oh yummy!" Luna reached over and snatched one of Nico`s garlic bread pieces. Nico frowned at her, but she just went on eating, and smiled at him innocently. Nico sighed, as he picked up his fork, and started eating his lasagna.

"You are going to stay here for dinner?" Nico asked. "I would have thought you would want to sit with your cabin."

Luna munched on the bread and shrugged. "My cabin leader is fighting with one of the Ares campers, and I don`t really want to get into it."

Nico nodded, thinking that wise. "I never actually asked you, what cabin are you in anyway?"

"Cabin twenty." She answered simply, still eating her meal. Nico waited, but she didn`t say anything more. Finally she looked at him. "If you want to know who my godly parent is Nico, you should just come out and say it."

Nico frowned. "ok, who`s your godly parent?"

"Hecate." She said simply, continuing to eat. That didn`t surprise Nico, of course the daughter of Hecate would be going to the school of magic.

"So during the games and such, do you use your wand, or do you use celestial bronze?"

"I use my wand. It's much more practical, and much less messy than using just a sword or spear." Luna stated matter-a-factly. Nico smiled at her.

The two talked together for the rest of dinner, then went and sat with each other at the campfire. Nico didn`t really sing along much, but Luna smiled and hummed along with the songs. Nico tried to make a smore, but it burned up on the stick, fire running down the length of his stick. He dropped it into the fire before it got to him. Nico sat gloomily to the side while Luna made him a smore, which he accepted. Nico was about to leave for bed, when Luna gave him a hug goodnight. He froze a bit, before returning the hug. Luna smiled, and skipped back to where her cabin mates were. Nico saw Percy give him a meaningful wink. Nico just glared at him, before turning back towards his cabin. Nico held a bag of sausages that he had gotten from the kitchen for Rex in his hand.

"Rex! I`m back!" Nico didn`t hear anything. Nico frowned, that was weird, Rex should have been barking like a mad dog, just by Nico walking near the cabin. "Rex? You there boy?" again, no answer. Nico opened the door, and turned on the lights to the cabin. Nico was horrified and what he saw. The rope that he had used to tie down Rex was broken. Dirty paw prints were leading to on top of one of the bunk beds and out of the open window. Nico immediately turned around, and ran to the outside window. He found the track outside and watched in horror as the lead out to the forest. Nico practically froze in fright. Rex may be a hell hound, but he was still just a puppy, not nearly strong enough to fight off the monsters in the forest of camp half-blood. Nico reached into his belt, but then remembered that his father had taken his dagger from him when he went to Hogwarts. Nico cursed in Latin, then he shadow traveled to the arena to get a sword.

He was surprised when he found Luna there, with Percy and Annabeth. Percy and Annabeth looked like they were practising some sword techniques, while Luna was trying different spells on the nymphs. Percy was the first to notice Nico, and saw how out of breath he was. "Nico what's up?" Percy asked.

Nico didn`t stop to answer, "Rex went into the forest, I have to go after him!" Nico yelled at him, as he ran into the shed, and grabbed the first sword he could find. It was ok, but nothing compared to his stygian iron sword. He was about to shadow travel back when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Then we`ll go with you." Percy said firmly. Annabeth was standing beside him, Luna beside her.

Nico wanted to protest, but didn`t think that he had the time. "Fine. Let's get going." The three of them ran towards the forest. Nico wanted to just shadow travel, but he knew he didn`t have the strength to bring all of them.

Percy studied the Rex`s tracks. "Looks like he came this way, but the track disappears after he trekked through the pond up ahead"

"Perhaps he was taken by some nymphs?" Annabeth suggested.

Percy shook his head. "Doubtful."

Nico was hardly listening. He focused all his abilities on trying to locate Rex. It was difficult, because he was being blocked out by all the other monsters in the forest. Nico turned and kicked a tree in frustration. Luna walked over to him, and put a hand on his shoulder. He looked at her, and she smiled at him.

"Perhaps I could try something." She suggested. She took out her wand, and pointed it in the direction of the forest, one hand still on Nico`s shoulder. "Reprio-Mihi." She spoke, and her wand started glowing. Annabeth and Percy came over to watch. Her wand turned in her hand, and pointed towards the forest. "he`s in that direction." She said. She started taking the lead, following the wand as it turned in her hand. Annabeth stood beside her, studying the wand, obviously curious about her magic abilities. Nico walked a few feet behind them with Percy.

Percy glanced at Nico, and put a hand on his shoulder. "Don`t worry man, we`ll find him." Nico face was unreadable. Rex may only be a dog, but for months, Rex had been his only companion in his travels, even though he stayed in the underworld most of the time.

Percy saw the worry on his cousins face, even though he tried to hide it, and decided to change the subject. "Nice girlfriend you got there."

Nico immediately turned to him in surprise. "What?" Nico asked bewildered.

Percy winked at him. "Oh don`t try to hide it from me. I see the way you two look at each other. How long have you been dating?"

"We`re not!" Nico sputtered, it was rare for him to get so unstable.

"Well then you will be." Percy state matter of factly. "Though honestly I was expecting you to fall for some Goth girl who spends all her time in a cemetery, or mortician."

"Hey!" Nico said.

Percy raised his hand mimicking surrender. "Yeah yeah I know, being a mortician is a very serious job I should not make fun of."

Nico elbowed his cousin. "Oh shut up." Nico growled.

Percy grinned. "So have you made a move on her yet?"

Nico hesitated; afraid his cousin would make fun of him. "We danced once, if that counts."

Percy raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment. "And?"

"And what?" Nico asked.

"Have you kissed her yet?" Percy continued.

Nico almost gutted his cousin right there and then, when, he bumped into Luna. "Why`d you stop?" he asked, catching Luna before she fell over, which received a wink from Percy.

Luna raised her arm and pointed ahead, Nico following her gaze, his eyes widened.

Rex was lying down in the mouth of a small cave in a large batch of grass, sleeping soundly. In front of him, half blocking him from view was a large Chimera, its snake tails hissing around. The large animal sniffed Rex, curiously, wondering who had invaded his house.

"We have to get him out of there," Nico said. "I`m not going to let my dog get eaten by a Chimera!"

Percy nodded, then turned to Annabeth. "Annabeth, me and Nico are going to distract him, you go in with your invisibility hat, and lead away Rex."

Annabeth nodded in agreement. "What about me?" Luna asked. All head turned to her.

"I, uh." Percy started, not even thinking about Luna in his plans. "Just, um, help out where you can I guess." Luna pouted, looking disappointed, but she nodded.

"Great!" Percy said, looking at Nico. "Lead the way."

"Why do I have to lead the way?" Nico protested.

"cause he`s your dog, and I don`t want to get eaten." Percy responded. Nico mumbled something, before stepping out into the clearing. He tiptoed around the creature, so he was far enough away from Luna and Annabeth, Percy at his heels.

"hey, um, goat breath!" to Nico`s annoyance, only the goat head turned to look at him. "And the rest of you." The other heads of the Chimera all looked at him. Nico looked at Percy.

"What?" Percy asked.

"Well you're usually the one who annoys the monster with that big mouth of yours."

"Gee thanks."

"And the gods, and the girls, and the river nymphs, and basically everything we see..."

"I get it ok!" Percy interrupted. He turned to the Chimera. "Hey, slobber mouth! Great hunting there! Catching a sleeping dog? Doubt you can catch something stronger."

The Chimera growled, and started bounding towards them. "What now?" Nico asked.

"Now." Percy said. "We run for it." Percy turned and ran into the forest, Nico right behind him.

"That's your big plan? We run?" Nico called after him angrily.

"Pretty much!" Percy called back. "Duck!"

Nico jumped to the ground, just in time, as a stream of fire flew above his head. Nico looked up, to see the Chimera practically on top of him, his mouth open wide. Nico kicked up, smashing his jaw shut, using his sword to parry him off. Percy ran up to him to help him up, bearing Rip Tide in his hand. "Got any better plans?" Nico mumbled.

Percy looked at him. "Could you raise any dead to come help us?"

Nico frowned, focusing. "a few, there`s not as many bodies here as you would expect."

"As many as you can. I`ll hold him off." Percy raced ahead, charging the beast. Nico focused all his power into the ground, chanting slowly under his breath. The air immediately changed, getting must more moist and foggy, smelling of dirt and ashes. From the ground, skeleton hands reached up, and started pulling themselves up. There weren`t that many, only 6 of them. Nico didn`t have to say anything, they all turned and started walking towards the Chimera. Percy backed away as they approached. The Chimera looked at them all curiously, roaring at them angrily. He tried to bite them, but quickly spit them back, as the stabbed them with some old fashion roman swords. The Chimera was focused on the skeletons, and Percy and Nico tried to slowly back away, but Nico slipped and fell over a tree root. The Chimera`s snake tail heard, and hissed in their direction. The Chimera turned, and started charging towards him, barreling through the Skeletons. Nico raised his sword to defend himself, when suddenly.

"Leviosa!" the Chimera was lifted off his feet, and smashed into a large tree a few feet away. Nico`s eyes looked to where the voice had came from, and he saw Luna standing there, looking much like she did on the first night they had met. Nico had never been happier to see her, and was about to wake her, when the Chimera rose to his feet. He didn`t look to happy about being thrown around like a ping pong, and growled fiercely at Luna. He started barrelling towards Luna, a thousand miles per hour, not giving Luna time to call out her spell. Without thinking, Nico jumped to his feet, and ran towards Luna, shoving her to the ground him on top of her. The Chimera was about them; Nico whirled off of Luna, and stabbed his sword upward. The Chimera screamed in pain. It got off of Nico, taking his sword with him, and was about to blow fire at them, when Percy came in, and chopped off his head. The creature crumbled to the ground, his body turning to dust.

Nico was breathing heavily, standing up slowly. He turned to Luna, "you ok?" he asked.

Luna looked up at him, a trickle of blood falling down her face. "Yes I`m fine." She said as she noticed Nico`s worried face as he saw the scratch. "It's only a scratch; the nargles have done worse to me."

Nico shook his head, and took her by the hand. "That's not just a scratch Luna. Come on, I'll patch you up at my cabin." He said, leading her away. They met up with Annabeth at the edge of the forest, her holding onto Rex`s collar to keep him from running into the forest again. As soon as they came into view, Rex barked happily, and nuzzled Nico`s hand when he came up to him.

Nico grunted at him. "I go through all this trouble for you and that's the best sorry you can muster?" Nico asked, frowning down at him. Rex just looked up at Nico. "Don`t give me that innocent look you traitor."

Rex started licking the chimera blood off of Nico`s hand. "Dude I think your dog is turning part vampire." Percy comment.

"He is not." Nico said, but moved away his hand just in case.

"If he does turn vampire can I put a cape on him and call him Dracula dog?" Percy asked, Nico just glared at him.

He took Luna`s hand again. "Come on, we should get your head bandaged up." Nico turned and nodded to Percy and Annabeth. "Thanks again for the help, I owe you guys one." Nico walked along, Rex at his side, pulling along Luna behind him, who just skipped along like usual.

Annabeth whispered. "So are they together?" Percy shook his head. "Want to make a wager on how long? Loser pays for next date."

Percy winked. "I'll wager a month."

Annabeth laughed at him. "My wager is less than a month. Oh and you`re also going to be buying popcorn."

"What make you so sure you`ll win?" Annabeth just winked at him, gave him a kiss on the cheek goodnight, then went off towards her own cabin.

At the Hades cabin, Nico rustled around looking for the first aid kit. Since he was really the only person in the Hades cabin, the camp didn`t usually restock it very often. Thankfully he had some bandages in his knapsack. Luna sat on the bed looking around curiously, Rex lying at her feet. Nico sat next to her, holding the bandages and some cleaning alcohol in his hand.

"This might hurt a bit." he warned. Luna nodded simply, and closed her eyes. Nico brushed away her hair so he could get a better look at the wound. He winced as he saw it. It wasn`t so bad that she would need stitches, but it was still pretty big. Nico dabbed some paper towel in the alcohol, and started to clean away the dirt. Luna winced, and Nico quickly apologized.

"s`ok" Luna slurred. She rested her head on the post of the bedside, as Nico dressed her wound. Nico grabbed some medicine tape to wrap up the wound to finish off.

"There, finished." He looked up at Luna, only to see she had fallen asleep. Nico smiled, looking at her. She was half speaking in her sleep, every now and then, whispering some random rambling about nargles, or moon frogs. Nico raised his hand and placed it on her forehead. It was only then that he realized their close proximity, and he almost hit his head jumping up. Luna didn't even move, she just smiled a bit in her sleep.

Nico considered waking her up, but figured it was getting dark out anyway. Nico grabbed one of the blankets and draped it around her, then he got into one of the bunk beds on the other side of the cabin, so she wouldn`t freak out when she woke up. Nico smiled, as he drifted into sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Nico sat alone by the river, watching as some water nymphs made some baskets. Luna was playing with some spells with her cabin, but he assumed they wouldn`t be doing that for a long time. Chiron wouldn`t take long before he discovered little fish floating around in the air. Nico was still surprised they weren`t getting attacked by the water nymphs yet. Rex slept beside him, his head in his lap. Nico stroked Rex`s head, his tail flapping slightly. Suddenly, Nico started smelling something that smelled like grave soil. He looked up, and started, waking up Rex, who barked in surprise. Above him was an Irish message of his father, sitting at his throne chair.

"D, dad!" Nico sputtered surprised. "Wha, what going on? What's going on?"

Hades nodded. "Good to see you son." Rex looked up, and barked at Hades. "Taking good care of the pup I see." Hades said, looking at Rex.

"Thanks." Nico mumbled. "So what do you want?"

"I'm here to make a deal boy."

Nico raised an eyebrow. "A deal?"

Hades nodded. "There's someone I need you to deal with. He has escaped my grasp time and time again."

"So you want me to kill him." Nico stated. Hades nodded. Nico was afraid to ask his next question. "Who is he?"

"Harry Potter." Hades stated. "He escaped death last year, when two of his dead parents came back and saved him, which was a second time since he was a child, where he was also supposed to die." Nico didn`t look at his father. "If you do this for me son, your punishment in Hogwarts will be erased."

Nico laughed. Leave it to his dad to consider taking a life and one month at school to be on the same scale. Harry wasn`t one of Nico`s better friends, but even still killing him just didn`t sit well with Nico. Harry was a good kid, and Nico didn`t want to see him dead. "No."

Hades raised an eyebrow at him. "Did you just say no to me?"

Nico sighed, trying to figure out what to say. "Why do you have to go after him now? I mean didn't he avoid death when he was a kid? Why are you only going after him now?"

"I am not a heartless man son."

"_Could have fooled me." _Nico thought.

"His mother gave her life to save him, so I let that one go. But this one I cannot let go. I will not stand the dead returning to save lives."

"I use the dead all the time." Nico mumbled.

"That's different boy." Her father said, frowning at him. "I want him dead before the end of the week son, preferably on Wednesday; we're not expecting too many souls that day, we can squeeze in an extra."

"Didn't you hear me? I said no."

Hades went deafly silent. Even from hear, Nico could practically hear the entire underworld holding their breath. "Excuse me boy?"

"I'm not going to kill Harry. He's a friend, and a good guy. It isn't his fault that his parents came to save him, it wasn't like asked for it. I don't see the justification for his death." Nico spoke fast, trying to sound as convincing as possible.

Hades' eyes were burning. "You dare speak back to me Boy?" he asked menacingly.

"Father," Nico said, trying his best to get on his good side. If he had one. "I'm not trying to be disrespectful, I just don't want to kill Harry, I'm sorry." Nico could practically see the rage growing on his father's face. "I'll stay at Hogwarts for three months even."

Hades studied his son carefully. "It seems that sending you to that school was not in your best interest. You have become even more disobedient..."

"Nico!" Nico looked up in surprise, to see Luna, standing up at the top of the hill, clutching her wand in her hand. She was wearing an orange camp half-blood t-shirt and blue jean shorts, and her hair was tied back with a red hairclip. There was a tree, blocking the Irish message from view, so she couldn't see him talking to his father. "I'm going to go searching for some heliopath. Would you and Rex like to come? They're really fast, and I'm not sure if I'll be able to catch them alone."

Nico frowned; pretty sure they weren't going to find any either way. "Sure, just give me a second we'll meet you by the fire pit." Luna nodded, and skipped away.

"Who was that?" Nico turned back to his father, having almost forgotten that he was there. Hades looked unusually calm, which worried Nico.

"She's a friend." Nico stated flatly.

"Sounds like more than a friend." Hades stated flatly. Nico wanted to face palm himself. Now his own father was against him? Sure, Hades was usually against him, but not like this.

"It's not like that." Nico protested.

"Wasn't she the girl you were dancing with at the Hogwarts dance?" Hades asked calmly.

Nico's mouth dropped. "You were spying on me?"

"Don't I as your father have the right to watch over my son?"

_"NO!" _ Nico wanted to scream. _"NO YOU DON'T! NO SANE FATHER DOES!" _Nico took a deep breath. "Father, I'm sorry, but I cannot comply with your wishes. Now, if you'll excuse me, I wish to be excused." Nico didn't dare look up at his father, but he felt his eyes on him.

"You will regret this decision boy." Without warning, Hades swept his hand through the Irish message.

Nico released a breath he didn't know he was holding in. Rex looked up at him with a whimper. Nico looked at him, sighing, before turning in the direction of the fire pit.

Luna was sitting there, talking to Hestia. The goddess looked confused, and Nico guessed that Luna was talking to her about her creatures. Then Luna spotted him. She jumped up and waved at him, then started skipping towards him. When she reached him, she engulfed him in a hug, a smile plainly seen on her lips. Nico returned the hug without thinking, which confused Luna. Luna let go up him so she could look at him. His face looked slightly paler than usual, slightly dripping with sweat. Rex also looked slightly unnerved, whimpering slightly at his master discomfort.

"What's wrong Nico?" Luna asked. Nico shook his head, and wordlessly, pulled her into another hug. Luna was surprised. It was hard enough to get Nico not to fight off one hug, but two hugs within an hour? "Nico..." she started.

She felt Nico shake his head. "Just give me a second." She felt him trembling as she held him. After a while, his shivering started to calm down. After he did, he let her go. "Sorry about that." He apologized.

"No need to apologize." Luna said, grinning at him. "Everyone needs a hug every now and then."

Nico didn't say anything, he just looked at her. "Let's go find some heliopath."

Luna's face lit up like a Christmas tree, and she grabbed Nico's hand, and led him away, talking to him about Heliopath, filling him with useless information. Nico smiled, listening to her drone on, almost as if he wasn't even there, allowing her voice to drown out the memory of his father's burning eyes. Nico regretted that later, when his father put his threat into action.

Over one week had past since he and Luna had returned from camp half-blood to Hogwarts. Nico and Luna had gotten closer over that time, to the point where Nico didn't flinch when she have him a hug. Neville was still spying on Luna, which pissed off Nico to no end. Harry and Ron had to stop him from smashing his brains in after Neville had accused Nico of being a jealous boyfriend. Harry and the gang had all come back in good moods, Harry totally unsuspecting of Nico's father's anger. Nico felt slightly guilty about that, and was slightly less talkative with Harry than usual. Every now and then, Nico got a written message from Percy, telling him that everything has been fine at camp, other than some hydra outbreaks. More importantly, his cousin annoyingly continued to pester Nico on whether or not he and Luna were dating yet. Nico ripped up most of those letters, though sometimes he let Rex eat them, which he was sure was not good for the dog.

Nico had almost forgotten his father's threat. Almost, being the key word. Every now and then, he could practically hear his father voice, almost like a whisper behind him. Nico would turn every time he heard the voice, but he never saw anyone there. Luna noticed his weird behaviour, and asked him about it constantly, but he just shook his head and told her it was nothing.

One time, Nico was sitting in potions class, pouring some dragon spit into the pot, Hermione telling him he was being far to slack with his measurements. Suddenly, Nico froze, dropping the dragon spit. Hermione sputtered angrily, trying to clean up the acid like substance before it burned through the floor. Nico just sat there, so still he looked like a Medusa victim. He had felt something, he wasn't sure what, but he knew it had something to do with the underworld. What had happened? Had someone escaped?

Nico felt a hand on his shoulder, and looked up to see Professor Snape standing over him. "Mr. Di Angelo, is something the matter?"

Nico swallowed. "I'm not feeling very good sir, may I be excused?" Snape gave Nico an odd look, but he nodded in consent. Nico practically jumped out of his seat, running out the door. He ran to the washroom, putting both hands on opposite sides of the mirror. He shuddered all over, sweating uncontrollably.

Just then he heard Neville screaming, yelping for help. Nico forced himself to stand up straight, and turned around, running towards Neville's voice. People around the hall were staring at Neville, while he was running around rampant, screaming. Nico stepping into his path, blocking his way. He grabbed him by both shoulders, forcing him to come to a halt.

"Neville, calm down, tell me what happened."

Neville took a deep breath, trying to calm down. "I, I was outside, with Luna, and Rex."

"With her?" Nico questioned, scowling. More like stalking.

Neville continued, wincing as Nico's grip on his shoulders tightened. "She was playing with Rex, um fetch I think. When, just out of nowhere, the ground underneath her opened, and, um."

Nico didn't wait for him to finish. "When did this happen?"

Neville swallowed. "J-just now. By the whomping willow."

"Show me." Nico insisted. Without waiting for an answer, he grabbed Neville by the collar, dragging him along as he ran ahead. Nico arrived at the large tree, and found Rex, circling a patch of ground, barking at it as if it had stolen something from him.

Neville pointed to the ground that Rex was barking at. "She was there, standing right there," Nico let go of him, and ran towards the spot. The ground felt weird, far too moist, considering they hadn't had any rain since Nico had returned to school.

Nico looked up at Neville. "Tell me exactly what happened."

Neville retold his story, he had been with Luna, she had just thrown away the ball for Rex to go fetch, when the ground just opened underneath her. While he was talking, Harry and his friends came out, having heard Neville's screams.

"My golly what happened!" Ron asked.

Nico ignored him. "Didn't you try to help Luna?" he directed the question towards Neville. Neville was shivering, as he shook his head. Nico stood up, looming over Neville. "Why in Hades not?"

Neville shivered at the ferocity of his voice. "I...I was scared."

Nico snapped. He drew back his fist, and smashed it into Neville's jaw, flooring him instantly.

"Hey!" Hermione protested. "What was that for Nico?" she called, hurrying over to Neville's side. Nico breathed, heavily, rage boiling in him. He turned back to the ground, kneeling over the spot. He noticed, something poking out of the ground, and he hesitantly brushed all the dirt off of it. They were Luna's glasses; she wore them everywhere, red on one side, blue on the other. Nico shuddered, staring at them in his hands. He remembered his father's words._ "You will regret your decision boy."_

"This is all my fault." Nico mumbled.

"What? This couldn't possibly your fault." Harry said, walking beside him.

"Yeah!" Ron said encouragingly. "Don't worry man! We'll get her back!"

Nico could barely hear them, all his attention on the glasses in his hand. An image of Luna's smiling face as she lectured him on the dangers of Nargles flashed through his mind. He clenched his teeth standing up. He ran past his friends, who all yelled after him, asking him where he was going, Rex at his heels. Nico went up to his room, and found a Drachma that he had, quote on quote, borrowed, from Percy. He was learning from the stole brothers.

He shadow travled to the river, so that no one would be able to follow him, and opened an iris message to the underworld. His father's throne came into sight, him looking like he was expecting the call.

"Nico, how are things at..."

"Skip the formalities!" Nico snapped. "What have you done with Luna?!"

Hades raised an eyebrow at his son. "Luna? Oh right, the blond hair girl. You needn't worry about her safety my son. She is with Persephone right now in the garden."

That didn't help calm Nico's fears. "Give. Her. Back." Nico said slowly.

"My boy, I cannot so easily just release someone from the Underworld."

"A trade must happen." Nico said, knowing his father to well.

Hades nodded. "Precisely. You bring me the soul of Harry Potter, and I will release the soul of your girlfriend."

"SHES NOT MY GIRLFRIEND!" Nico yelled.

Hades ignored his son. "You shouldn't dawdle; she'll have three days here before she dies of hunger." And the Iris Message ended.

Nico wanted to scream in vexation. What in Hades was he supposed to do now? Kill Harry? Just because he was a child of Hades doesn't mean he goes off killing people willy-nilly like some deranges psychopath, despite what some people may think. Nico looked down at his feet, and saw that his Stygian Iron sword had appeared out of the ground.

"Gee, aren't you a life saver dad." Nico grumbled. He was tempted to kick away the sword, but he was far to attached to it. Nico slumped to the ground, and put his head in his hands. Never in his life had he needlessly killed someone. Bianca had once told him that the fatal flaw of all of the children of Hades was holding grudges. If that was true, Nico suspected that they had two. They knew how precious a life was. They saw, they felt how all lives ended so easily and how most of the time, the afterlife ended in either sadness of suffering. How could Nico possibly send Harry there, when he had done nothing to deserve it? Nico looked at Rex, who whimpered up at him.

"But if I don't..." Nico started. "Then I'll lose Luna forever, just like Bianca."

Luna's eyes opened slowly, as she blinked a few times. Her head was pounding, and she was sure the nargles were to blame. She would be ready with butterfly nets and chocolate pudding to get her revenge, so long as she didn't eat the pudding on her own. She tried to remember where she was before. She had been playing fetch with Rex; he was such a cute puppy! Whenever he ran, his tongue hung out like he was ready to like something he ran by, and he was always, waving his tail... what was Luna doing again?

Luna sat up groggily, looking around. She was sitting on a stone bench, in a large room, that was surrounded in flowers. There were more flowers in this room then Luna had seen in her entire life, which was surprising, since she had spent a lot of time at the Demeter cabin hunting down nargles who had stolen her shoes. She wondered if Katie Gardner would have liked the yellow lilies near her. Maybe Travis would give them to her for her birthday. What seemed really strange, or at least, would have to any other person, was that all the flowers seemed to almost be glowing, shining against the dark background in the distance.

"You awake deary?" Luna looked up in surprise. Sitting at the table was a lady, she was really pretty, she wore a white sundress, her slightly tanned skin and dark brown hair flashing out against it. Her hair was swept to the side, almost like she was standing in front of a fan. She sat at a large white picnic table, with had pastries on it, scones, cupcakes, and a lot of tea. Luna imagined that this is what it would have looked like in Alice and wonderland, except no talking plants. Not yet at least.

The woman looked to her, as she sipped her tea. "No need to sit so far away child. Come, sit." The lady waved her hand to a seat at the other side of the table. Luna walked over to the table, and sat down. She waved her feet around, studying her surroundings. She probably should have been terrified, she had just fallen through a hole in the ground, but she felt quiet relaxed. She told herself it was because of her talent to adapt to all situations so easily. She felt the woman across the table study her curiously. "Your name is Luna Lovegood correct?" Luna nodded, as she leaned back in her chair to look at some marigolds behind her. "Daughter of Hecate correct?" she asked again. Luna could hear the irritation in her voice at Luna's disrespect but hey! She was ADHD, not her fault; everyone else should have to suffer not her!

Luna nodded and turned back to her. "Are you Persephone, Nico's step mother?"

Persephone scoffed. "Please don't relate me to that boy."

"Why am I here?" Luna asked. "Oh! Scones!" Luna reached for one, but Persephone stopped her.

"Careful deary, eat anything here, and you'll stay here forever."

Luna put it down. "Why are you being so nice to me?"

Persephone scoffed. "I will ask the questions first."

"That seems awfully rude."

Persephone frowned at the girl. "Anyway, back to my question. My step son."

"Nico Di Angelo,"

Persephone waved it off. "Whatever. You two are dating, are you not?"

"Perhaps." Luna stated off, her attention drifting again.

"Perhaps?" Persephone was getting annoyed at the girl.

"Maybe we are, and maybe we aren't, I don't know. You'd have to ask Nico, I don't want to say anything to upset him."

"But you do like him don't you?" Persephone asked.

Luna tilted her head thoughtfully. "I suppose."

"What do you like about him?" Persephone inquired.

Luna pouted, trying to think, and then a smile grew on her lips. "He's like a puppy!"

Persephone almost spit out her tea. "Excuse me?" she asked.

Luna continued. "Nico's like a puppy, he tries to act tough, but he's really sweet. That's more like a marshmallow though. He has a cute glare, and he's really cold."

"Cold?" Persephone asked.

Luna nodded. "Yup! It's comforting in the heat. Also he always freezes up when I hug him, which I think is really cute!" Luna smiled again.

Persephone was at a loss. Not only did she not understand even one of her reasoning's, but she had not expected the girl to open up to her so easily. Nico clearly had strange taste. "I...see."

Luna grinned. "May I ask you a question?" Persephone nodded her consent. "Why are you being so nice to me?"

Persephone almost laughed. "How is bringing you to the underworld being nice to you?" she laughed.

Luna didn't look disturbed. "You warned me not to eat the food. If you wanted to hurt me you would have let me eat it."

Persephone giggled. "Well, I guess that is a good enough justification." Persephone sighed. "Perhaps it is because I see part of you in me. Being brought to this place because of the actions of one who is infatuated with you, just as Hades did with me."

"Nico likes me?" Luna asked,

Persephone smiled. "Why else would he be sacrificing so much to save you?"

That made Luna feel all happy and giddy inside. Then she registered what Persephone said. "What do you mean what he's sacrificing?"

Persephone looked at the girl, unsure if she should tell her. "My husband made a deal with the boy. If he brings him the soul, of one, Harry Potter, then you will be returned to the upper world."

Luna's eyes widened slightly. Nico, kill Harry? What, No! Harry was a good boy, who always shoed away people bullying her when she tried to catch nargles. Him dyeing? Luna no Like-y! But that wasn't all that bother Luna. "Killing Harry would destroy Nico." Luna stated flatly.

Persephone sighed. "As much as I hate to admit it, that boy does have such a fragile soul, still almost like a child. Even with his lineage, the boy does not like to see death. I fear you are right; taking an innocent life would destroy the poor boy. But unfortunately, my husband is not the one for emotions. He does not quite understand how to deal with others emotions, so he simply decides to ignore them."

Luna was barely listening anymore. "And Nico's going to kill Harry for me?"

Persephone studied her carefully as she nodded. "Yes, that way you will be able to return home."

Luna frowned. How did Nico expect Luna to return home knowing the price that had been paid to bring her there? Luna had to stop him, but how? Then Luna's eyes drifted towards the food. "If Luna is trapped here, and unable to leave, would Nico give up?"

Persephone looked at her. "Yes, but what are you..."

She didn't get to finish her sentence. Without thinking, Luna grabbed one of the scones, preferably the one that looked best, and shoved it into her mouth.

Nico walked around the school, his eyes set up confidently. He figured that if he could just get this job done, while shutting off all his emotions, he might be able to get though this without breaking. Though he would never be able to come back to Hogwarts again, or England for that matter, and would have even less time at the camps, for fear of the people who were half bloods at Hogwarts but still. He had to do it. He couldn't just leave Luna down there; he would never forgive himself, knowing that it was all his fault.

He found Harry, Ron, and Hermione sitting in the library, looking intently at the books. Nico swallowed, hiding his dagger in the pockets of his cloak, before walking over to sit next to them. "Hey guys." Nico said.

Harry looked up at him, grinning. "Nico hey. How you holding up?" Nico just nodded at him. He noted to sit as far away from Harry as possible, without making it look awkward.

"Of course he's not doing ok Harry!" Hermione snapped. "He just lost his soon to be girlfriend to the earth! How do you think he's doing?"

Nico didn't have the energy to rebuff her. Ron grinned at him. "Hey don't worry man, we got your back."

"You mean I got his back." Hermione mumbled. "You wouldn't know what to do if I wasn't here."

Nico frowned at her. "What do you mean?"

Harry smiled, lifting up the book so Nico could see it. "Research, we're looking up possible creature that could have done this."

"Don't worry Nico!" Hermione said, with what was supposed to be a reassuring grin. "Research solves all our problems."

"Says the one who got frozen by a snake while doing research." Ron mumbled. Hermione slapped him. Nico looked at the books sadly. It hurt him to know how much they were trying to help out, yet he knew there was nothing they could do. Nico was the only one who could save her.

"Hey come on Ron, you know that's a sour spot for Hermione." Harry said sympathetically.

Ron glared at his best friend. "Harry you're supposed to be on my side!"

"He doesn't have to be on your side Ron." Hermione complained.

"Yes he does! All guys have to be on the same side when fighting a girl! It's the guy code!" Hermione hit him again. Nico watched the two bicker, wondering how Ron and Hermione would be able to deal with Harry's death. Harry was, to say it lightly, possibly Ron's closest friend, and Hermione's as well. It seemed to Nico that he was the mediator between the two, keeping them both calm when they got angry at each other. How was he supposed to take that away from them? Nico gritted his teeth. He had to focus, he didn't have a choice in this, he couldn't let Luna stay in the underworld.

Hermione got up with a huff. "It's getting late. We should get to bed; working while being this tired will do us no good."

Ron yawned loudly. "Agreed! I'm going to bed."

Ron tried to get away, but Hermione caught him by his collar. "We still need to put back the books."

"Hey no problem guys!" Harry interrupted. "Me and Nico will can stay back and put them away. You guys go on ahead." Ron grinned at his friend and ran off, followed by Hermione, telling him not to run in the halls.

"Let's just hope we don't find them making out in the halls." Nico mumbled. Harry laughed at his joke, though Nico didn't crack a smile. This was just too simple; Nico could just kill him right now!

Harry started piling up the books, and picked up half of them. "Nico mind grabbing the rest?" Harry asked. Nico nodded, picking them up, and following Harry to the right shelves. They were pretty much the only people in the library now, just a few candles here and there sustaining light. Finally Harry found the right shelves. "Aw here we are." Harry turned, and started placing the books on the shelves, his back turned to Nico.

This was way too simple. Nico slowly put down the books and reached for his sword. He wrapped his fist around the handle, the blade never feeling so cold in his hand before. Every second that passed started slowing; Nico felt like it took him an hour just to take out his sword. Slowly, he lifted it up, preparing to strike.

"Hey Nico?" Harry asked, not looking at him. Nico froze, tightening his grip on his sword. "Look man I know how worried you must be for Luna. Trust me; I've actually been in a lot of situations, a lot like this. But you shouldn't worry too much, I promise, we won't stop until we find her, you have my word on that." Nico didn't say anything, he just stood there frozen. "Hey, would you mind passing over those books over there?"

Tentatively, and regretfully, Nico slowly lowered his sword. "Yeah, sure." Nico shuddered as he passed the book to Harry, who was still intently looked at the books he was putting away. Taking advantage of Harry's cluelessness, Nico slumped to the ground, his back to one of the shelves, and put his head in his hands. He couldn't do it. He couldn't take someone's life just like that? How could he face Luna after that, or any of his other friends for that matter?

"I'm sorry Luna." Nico mumbled. Just then, Nico's head snapped up. He had been monitoring Luna's life source since he first discovered her absence, and now he noticed something was wrong. She wasn't dead, but she still wasn't the same as before. This life source reminded him of...

Nico jumped to his feet, sprinting off into the shadows, Harry calling after him.

Nico entered the underworld almost half an hour later, the trip taking longer than expected, because he was so tired. By the time he arrived, he was gasping for breath, barely standing. But never the less, he forced himself to run, following Luna's life source. He followed it to Persephone's garden, which he would never enter under different circumstances. Nico ran to the center of the garden, before stopping in the middle, once again gasping for breath. His father was there, with Persephone, who was kneeling over something.

"Is there nothing to do?" Persephone asked.

Hades shook his head. "What's done is done, not even my strength can help."

"Where's Luna?" Nico interrupted. They both turned to him, Hades holding a straight face, while Persephone's face was full of pity and regret.

"Nico," she started. It was the first time in Nico's life that she had ever called him by name. "I'm sorry, she..."

Nico didn't wait for her to finish, she shoved past her to see what they were looking at. Luna was lying down on the ground, a half eaten scone in her hand. Nico fell to his knees, bending over her. "No," he whispered, "no, No NO!" his elevating with each word. He felt his eyes fill with tears, as he took Luna's hand, and put it to his cheek. "She ate it?" he asked, once he had finally calmed down.

Persephone nodded. "I'm so sorry, I didn't..."

"Why didn't you stop her?" Nico growled. Persephone was at a loss for words, Hades took her hand, to reassure her. Just then, Luna started to stir. "Luna?" Nico called. "Luna! It's me, Nico."

Luna slowly opened her eyes, and looked up at Nico. She smiled; her eyes shining slightly, though that might have been the tears in Nico's eyes. "Nico, why are you crying?" she asked, reaching up her free hand to whip Nico's tears. Behind them, Hades and Persephone slowly crept away, to give them space.

Nico closed his eyes. "You, you ate the scone." Luna nodded. Nico was silent for a moment. "Why would you do that? Now you can't leave here, you'll be stuck here forever. You can't go back to Hogwarts, or Camp Half-blood, or your dad, or..." Nico took a deep breath. "Why, why would you eat that?" Nico asked, his voice trembling.

Luna just looked at him. "Persephone said you would have killed Harry to get me out. I couldn't let you do that, it would have destroyed you."

Nico bit down on his lip. Luna got up slowly, sitting next to him, him still hold her hand, his face to the ground. "But, but now you're stuck here." Nico said again.

"It's not so bad here." Luna said, "It'll be a lot easier to look for heliopaths here."

Nico took a deep breath. "Why, why would you do that for me?" at first Luna didn't answer. Then she took her hand, and pushed up Nico's face to look at her. Then, without warning, she pressed her lips to his. Nico froze, dropping Luna's hand, his eyes widening. He didn't move at all, for what seemed like forever, before he relaxed, pulling Luna close to him. Luna broke of the kiss, eyes still on Nico, his eyes begging for an explanation.

"Because I like you Nico." Luna said.

Nico smiled, his eyes still wet with tears, pulling Luna into another kiss, before whispering in her ear. "I like you to."


	6. Chapter 6

Epilogue.

Nico frowned down at his watch, tapping it, as if he could make it go faster. A few months had passed since the Luna incident; now Nico was standing, holding two large bags of popcorn, and two large drinks, with Percy and Annabeth who were talking in front of the movie theater Annabeth munching on her popcorn.

"Nico if you're going to stand there just staring at your watch you could have done that at home." Percy frowned.

Nico looked up at him. "Oh sorry." He grabbed a handful of the popcorn from his hand, and munched on it. "There, happy?"

Annabeth frowned at him. "Why did you buy popcorn, if you're not even going to watch the movie?"

"Oh right, we didn't tell you what was going on did we?" Percy asked. Annabeth looked at him confused.

Suddenly Nico's clock struck 4:00 "times up! Got to go." Nico ran past his cousin, giving him a wave before jumping into the shadows.

Annabeth blinked twice. "Where's he going to?" Annabeth asked.

Percy laughed, putting an arm around her shoulder. "He's just hurrying so he's not late for his date." Percy grinned, leading Annabeth into the theater.

Nico ran through the shadows, to the underworld. He landed in Persephone's garden, looking around. He placed the popcorn and drinks on the picnic table, making sure everything had been set up.

After Luna had eaten the scone, things had gotten a little weird. Hades didn't bother Nico about killing Harry anymore, which Nico was thankful for. Hades had actually taken a shine to Luna's, what did he call it? 'Unusual' personality. Luna had been given the same deal as Persephone, for six months in the spring she would be allowed to go back to the upper world, and then return again at fall. Hades also let her go back on special occasions, Halloween, Christmas, Winter Solstice, ext.

Nico had trouble figuring out what to tell Hogwarts, since Luna wasn't going to go back there anymore. He told them that Luna was fine and safe, and that the hole in the ground had been just some large animals in the ground. Luna had been so scared by it though; she had transferred back to her old school with Nico. Nico was pretty sure that most of the people didn't really buy his story, but they didn't really have any better explanation, so they went along with it.

In her time on the surface, Luna spent a lot of it with her dad, and at camp half-blood, since they were the only ones who could really comprehend her condition, as Annabeth called it.

When she was in the Underworld, she would usually stay with Persephone, who had taken a shine to Luna, and welcomed the extra company, even though she didn't understand what she was saying half the time. That worried Nico, his girlfriend and his step mother getting along? Wasn't that usually some sign of the apocalypse? Nico also left Rex to stay with Luna in the underworld. Sure it meant that Nico was alone more, but he could deal with it.

Nico straitened up, seeing everything was in place. He left the center of the garden to look for Luna. He found her near the edge of the garden, helping Persephone plant some roses. Rex was standing next to them, sniffing the plants curiously. Rex saw Nico before the others, and ran to him happily, licking his hands, and searching his pockets for any treats. Luna grinned, standing up from her work, before skipping up to Nico, and giving him a quick peck on the cheek.

"Hey Nico! Look! Me and Persephone are planting roses! And this time I'll put up traps, so the nargles don't kill them." Nico nodded at her with a smile.

Persephone got up, whipping off her hands. She huffed at Nico with distain. "Some boyfriend you are, making your girlfriend wait. What kind of gentleman makes their girlfriend wait for them?"

Nico frowned, looking down at his watch. "But I timed it perfectly!" he stated, tapping it again.

Persephone sighed in exasperation, turning to Luna. "Luna dear, please just let me set you up with one of the spirits here. Sure they're dead, but there are some pretty charming ghosts down here."

"I'll be sure to tell father that you've been flirting with the ghosts again." Nico mumbled. Persephone glared at him.

Luna smiled, taking Nico's hand. "No thanks! I don't think that anyone else would go Nargle hunting with me."

Nico laughed, leading Luna into the center of the garden. Luna's eyes widened in excitement. He had a large projector screen and old fashioned projector set up, with two chairs facing them, the popcorn that he had gotten on a picnic table next to the chairs. Luna looked up at Nico, her eyes sparkling. "So what are we watching?"

Nico smiled, putting a hand behind his head. "Well, you told me you liked the show Doctor Who, so I found one of the old episodes with the Beetles."

Luna frowned. "But that episode was destroyed in a fire! How'd you get it?"

Nico grinned. "I have my ways." Nico waved to the chair, and Luna sat down eagerly, munching on the popcorn. Nico sat down next to her, his own drink in hand, as the movie started rolling.


End file.
